by Pat Boone
In May 2011 the FTC published a Consumer Alert with suggested guidelines to help investors considering purchasing U.S. gold and silver coins. I think these guidelines will be helpful for public awareness, especially now that owning physical gold has become such an important safety net in today's uncertain economy.
In reviewing the FTC guidelines I was impressed to see the government use the exact same phrase, "All Gold is Not Created Equal", first coined by Swiss America Chairman Craig R. Smith, published online in 1997 www.swissamerica.com and as a chapter title in his first book, "Rediscovering Gold in the 21st Century: The Complete Guide to the Next Gold Rush!" over a decade ago.
Swiss America has always been ahead of the curve in protecting Americans from gold scams. Mr. Smith helped found NCA, the Numismatic Consumer Alliance (www.stopcoinfraud.org), a New Jersey-based not-for-profit organization that has helped consumers recover $5 Million since it began in 2005.
According to Mr. Smith, there are scores of ways unethical gold dealers are scamming the public today, including over-pricing coins, over-promising performance, over-selling the product and long or even non-delivery of the product after payment is made.
Sadly, Smith expects the trend of rising consumer fraud and scams to grow in the months and years ahead as predatory marketers continue their own “gold rush” into this field where investors are coming to seek security, protection and growth.
This is why Craig also coined the phrase, "Learn before you earn" as the first step for consumers to avoid being hustled and rushed into buying gold coins from the wrong firm. Read Mr. Smith's 6 Steps Before Buying.
Remember: "all gold is not created equal", and the same goes for gold brokers! Swiss America is the Gold Standard in the industry for good reason. Don't rush into gold, do your homework first, like I did with the excellent educational resources from Swiss America.
Rather than waiting for the U.S. government to return to a national gold standard now, as prescribed in our U.S. Constitution, I suggest going onto a personal gold standard to preserve your economic future.
P.S. I see the government is warning the public to take celebrity spokesmen endorsements with a grain of salt. Well dear readers, you can take it as you like, but as a satisfied customer of Swiss America since 1995, I am speaking from first hand experience as well as good reports from other satisfied customers.
